Alligator Grabs 85 year old Woman

Moon Rat

Moon Rat

Member
On Monday, an 85 year old woman was walking her dog near a pond close to her development when an alligator jumped out of the water wanting the dog, but instead grabbed the old lady dragging her into the water. This happened in Florida near the Ft. Pierce area, which is located on the Atlantic side.

Video and more here: Gator Attack

The gator was caught and euthanized.
 

Moon Rat said:
On Monday, an 85 year old woman was walking her dog near a pond close to her development when an alligator jumped out of the water wanting the dog, but instead grabbed the old lady dragging her into the water. This happened in Florida near the Ft. Pierce area, which is located on the Atlantic side.

Video and more here: Gator Attack

The gator was caught and euthanized.
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I'm a little confused. Even here in the Uk we've heard about alligators in Florida.. didn't she know that would be a dangerous place to take her dog walking?.. rhetorical question clearly, and a horrible, horrible tragedy...but it's left me wondering why ?
 

OldFeller said:
I was only in Florida once and I judged it uninhabitable. Between the heat, the bugs, the wildlife, the hurricanes. My sister-in-law was on her front lawn and thought she was stepping on the garden hose but it turned out to be a snake. She said she leapt about a foot in the air.

I never went back.
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Bet I could change your mind, @OldFeller ... go to St. Augustine and fall in love with it like I did many years ago.
 
We had a 14 footer in our pond. The HOA wouldn’t pay to have it removed, so I offered to foot the bill. I told the gator guy not to kill it. He told me that Florida law states whoever removes the Gator owns the gator and can do with it as they wish. I withdrew my offer and the state came and got it and took it down to the Everglades.
 
OldFeller said:
I was only in Florida once and I judged it uninhabitable. Between the heat, the bugs, the wildlife, the hurricanes. My sister-in-law was on her front lawn and thought she was stepping on the garden hose but it turned out to be a snake. She said she leapt about a foot in the air.

I never went back.
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Probably a water snake. They are everywhere. Not poisonous, but their bite hurts like crazy. Ask me how I know.
 
CallMeKate said:
How horrible. :cry: Every time I'm in Florida someone reminds me that "if it's Florida and there's water, there are gators" so I'm extra cautious although I've still seen a few of them wandering around.

As a side note, when I saw the title of the thread, I thought it said " @Alligatorob Grabs 85 Year Old Woman." :eek:
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I have been thru that with Rob before!

I have only been to Florida once. We never went near any lakes or ponds. We did see gators just swimming in culvert/creeks that ran alongside some of the roads. That made me decide to never to vacation there again. Don't feel comfortable in Louisiana either.

They are now showing up in Texas lakes, you guessed it, no more lake swimming or fishing at the waters edge. I will stay on a pier or away from shore. I don't even want to go out in a boat anymore.
 
My daughter and her family lives in the Orlando suburbs, recently moved to Daytona. When my grandchildren were small and I visited, I took them to the babysitter's for the day. Many mornings I would see an alligator crossing the golf course between my two neighborhood streets. That was 20 years ago, and nothing has changed. Gators and snakes are everywhere.
One reason I moved from Tampa to NY state to raise my kids.
 
We were in Hilton Head SC a few years ago. A little boy and dad were fishing in a stream near the condo. The next day there was a large alligator sunning itself in the same spot. 😳
We stayed way away as we walked to the pool with grandchildren.
Several small ones would come up sunning from ponds along with the turtles.
On our way out to go home another huge alligator was sunning himself at the golf course. It didn't sit well with me.
Not too long after we heard a report of a women being dragged under at Hilton Head. She was trying to save her dog. Seems like another news story after that.
So, it's not just Florida.
 
CallMeKate said:
As a side note, when I saw the title of the thread, I thought it said " @Alligatorob Grabs 85 Year Old Woman."
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Always a possibility, but not very newsworthy!
Moon Rat said:
We had a 14 footer in our pond. The HOA wouldn’t pay to have it removed, so I offered to foot the bill. I told the gator guy not to kill it. He told me that Florida law states whoever removes the Gator owns the gator and can do with it as they wish. I withdrew my offer and the state came and got it and took it down to the Everglades.
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Florida has a nuisance gator program, locals are given the job of removing the nuisance gators. They are not paid, but allowed to keep or sell the gator products, skins are quite valuable. I am skeptical your 14 footer made it to the Everglades alive, more likely it's purses, wallets and cowboy boots today. But it is the kind of story the state might tell concerned folks. Nobody, Everglades park included wants a 14 foot gator released in their waters... Gator populations are pretty high already.

I have hunted gators with some of the nuisance gator guys. About the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/alligator/snap/#:~:text=People concerned about an alligator,to people, pets or property.

Great pictures @Moon Rat thanks for posting! The 14 footer was a bull, not a mama, females don't get that big. The nuisance gator hunter I used to hunt with most had been doing it all his life, from long before it was legal he use to say. He could tell male from female gators by the smell 20 or more feet before they got to the boat. Not me, to me they all just smelled bad...

When canoeing just remember that the poor gators are only looking for a hand out...

What's left of the two biggest gators I took, 10 and 11 feet.
IMG_3379.jpg
 
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Right Now said:
My daughter and her family lives in the Orlando suburbs, recently moved to Daytona. When my grandchildren were small and I visited, I took them to the babysitter's for the day. Many mornings I would see an alligator crossing the golf course between my two neighborhood streets. That was 20 years ago, and nothing has changed. Gators and snakes are everywhere.
One reason I moved from Tampa to NY state to raise my kids.
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Sorry to hijack the thread, but I was raised in Tampa (Dana Shores, near Rocky Point Golf Course). I lived there from 1966 to 1988. When did you live there?
 
hollydolly said:
I'm a little confused. Even here in the Uk we've heard about alligators in Florida.. didn't she know that would be a dangerous place to take her dog walking?.. rhetorical question clearly, and a horrible, horrible tragedy...but it's left me wondering why ?
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Gator attacks on humans are relatively rare, however they are much more common on dogs. Walking a dog near gator habitat (about 50% of Florida) is kind of like trolling for them.
Moon Rat said:
Probably a water snake. They are everywhere. Not poisonous, but their bite hurts like crazy. Ask me how I know.
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Yep, it could have been a water moccasin (aka cottonmouth) but more likely a harmless water snake, they are a lot more common. You are right about the bite, and if you try to catch one they have a very foul emission, not a happy experience. As a kid we used to catch them and sell them to a reptile dealer in Tarpon Springs, 25 cents each, didn't get rich.
hearlady said:
So, it's not just Florida.
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No, gators are found from Texas to the Carolinas, actually more in Louisiana than Florida, and some of the largest have been taken from Mississippi.

This is the best alligator dog story I know, though it's authenticity has been questioned, I can imagine it's mostly true. Not a happy ending. I know the author and place are real, used to live right near there. And Otter Lake has many gators.

Ordeal at Otter Lake
https://www.gulfspecimen.org/wp-content/themes/gulfspecimens/media/articles/12-RD-OtterLake-83.pdf
 
hollydolly said:
I'm a little confused. Even here in the Uk we've heard about alligators in Florida.. didn't she know that would be a dangerous place to take her dog walking?.. rhetorical question clearly, and a horrible, horrible tragedy...but it's left me wondering why ?
Click to expand...
It's the job of Florida Fish and Game and Florida Wildlife to keep gators limited to specific waterways, but after a good rain, for example, they manage to find access to waters they aren't suppose to wander into.

Also, those 2 departments constantly bicker about jurisdiction.
 
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